The present invention relates to a control apparatus for controlling the starting operation of a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine employing a friction clutch, and more particularly to an apparatus for automatically controlling the starting operation of a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine which is suitable for automatically controlling the starting operation of a vehicle having an automatic transmission system employing a friction clutch and a gear-type transmission.
There have, for example, been proposed various automatic transmission systems in which hydraulic actuators are connected with a gear-type transmission and a friction clutch so as to be operative in response to electric signals and the operation for shifting the gear-type transmission is carried out in accordance with the operating condition of the vehicle at each instant. If a vehicle having such an automatic transmission system is to be started automatically, it is necessary to control the rate of slip of the clutch in accordance with the engine speed and the amount of the operation of the accelerator pedal so as not to excessively increase in the engine speed.
However, in the conventional apparatus for automatically controlling the start operation, it is very difficult to control the engaging operation of the clutch without excessively increasing the engine speed and impairing the smoothness of the start of the vehicle even in the case where the vehicle load condition at the starting of the vehicle varies so that the amount of the operation of the accelerator pedal varies. Thus, according to the conventional system, it is very difficult to obtain a smooth start of the vehicle regardless of the magnitude of the vehicle load.